1. Intolerance in the 1920’s
…unwillingness or refusal to respect contrary opinions or beliefs, persons of different races or backgrounds

2. Civil Rights During Wartime
1790’s – Alien and Sedition Acts during undeclared naval war with France (limited freedom of speech/press)
1860’s Civil War – Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus; ( could arrest people without charging them with a crime)
World War I – acts of sabotage on American property by the Germans caused fear for national security during wartime

3. Conscientious Objectors
Those who refuse on moral or religious grounds to bear arms in a military conflict or to serve in the armed forces.
John T. Neufeld was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in the the military prison in Leavenworth. He was later paroled.

4. Congress reacted Espionage Act – 1917
Prohibited disclosure of gov’t or industrial info regarding national defense
Criminalized refusal to perform military obligations if conscripted
$10,000 fine/20 years
Sedition Act – 1918
Prohibited expression of anti-war & unpatriotic sentiments
Penalties if convicted of “disloyal, scurrilous or abusive language against gov’t, its actions, or its symbols”

5. Chief Justice: Edward D. White
Schenck v. U.S. (1919)
Chief Justice: Edward D. White

6. Background Sedition Act Espionage Act
Restricted interference with enlistment procedure
Made it a felony to “utter, print, or publish disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government, the Constitution, flag or uniform of the armed forces”
Espionage Act
Outlawed any obstruction with military registration and enlistment
Banned treasonable and seditious material from the mail

7. The Case of Charles Schenck
Charles Schenck, General Secretary of the Socialist Party, opposed the war
Was arrested and convicted for violations of the Espionage Act
Mr. Schenck had mailed out 15,000 leaflets urging opposition to the draft

8. Constitutional Issue Did the Espionage Act violate the
1st Amendment protection of freedom of speech?

9. Decision Unanimous decision by the Court
Espionage Act was constitutional
Free speech was not an absolute right
Civil liberties may be limited during wartime
Mr. Schenck’s speech was not constitutionally protected because it posed a “clear and present danger” to the country and the nation’s war effort
Conviction was upheld

10. Importance
Court established the belief that a person’s rights are not absolute (for all times and in all places).
The right to free speech does not allow a person to shout “fire” in a crowded theater.
The Court’s “clear and present danger” ruling allows the restrictions of individual rights in the interest of national security

11. Racial Intolerance – Movie Flip….

12. Racial Unrest Era of segregation
Jim Crow rules the South
Increased fears for jobs due to “Great Migration”
“Red Summer” – riots in many major cities
Resurgence of Ku Klux Klan
Rosewood

14. The Red Scare – Fear of Communism
Palmer raids
Attorney General
Arrested & deported immigrants suspected of Communist ties
No trials, hearings

15. Emma Goldman
Anarchist and political activist who protested against the living and working conditions in the US
Deported to Russia as an “foreign born radical” aboard “Soviet Ark”

16. The “Soviet Ark” used to transport suspected Communists out of US

17. Eugene Debs – President of the Socialist Party
Sentenced to 10 years in prison for calling these laws unconstitutional

18. Others were prosecuted
Members of the International Workers of the World were imprisoned for anti-war dissent

19. Anti-Immigrant Feelings
Fear new wave of immigration after WWI
Nativism – belief that immigrants were inferior to native born Americans
Immigration Quotas based on nationality
Sacco & Vanzetti
Italian, immigrant, anarchists
Arrested, convicted, & executed for robbery and murder
Victims of who they were more so than what they might have done

20. Intro Prohibition and Scopes Trial – Movie Clip
Sacco & Vanzetti
Were “pardoned” by Massachusetts Governor Dukakis in 1977
Intro Prohibition and Scopes Trial – Movie Clip

21. Prohibition 18th Amendment - 1920 Open defiance of Prohibition
Illegal to manufacture, transport, or sell alcohol
Volstead Act – provided enforcement
any beverage that was more than 0.5% alcohol
owning any item designed to manufacture alcohol was illegal
set specific fines and jail sentences for violating
Eventually repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment
Open defiance of Prohibition
Rise of Organized Crime
Difficult to enforce a law that is so unpopular
Resistance to gov’t.!
Attempt to legislate behavior!

23. Fundamentalism v. Scientific Theory
Fundamentalism – strict belief in the Bible and theory of creation (“word for word” interpretation)
Science – Darwin’s theory of evolution
The Scopes Trial
Tennessee Biology teacher arrested for teaching both creation and evolution – a violation of state law (Butler Act)
Became known as the “Monkey Trial”
Clarence Darrow v. Wm. Jennings Bryan
Early landmark cases of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

24. Darrow
W.J. Bryant